"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (meaning "And If There Were Only One Woman Left (I Would Be That One)") is the first hit

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

's French-language album, ''

D'elles ''D'elles'' (meaning ''About Them'' or ''From Them'') is a thirteenth French-language and twenty-second studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 18 May 2007. It is a concept album which features thirteen songs w ...

''. It premiered on the radio in France, Quebec, Switzerland and Belgium on 14 February 2007 and was released as a

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...

on the same day. The CD single was released on 13 April 2007 in Francophone countries. The song topped the chart in France.

Background and release

"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" was written by

Françoise Dorin Françoise Dorin (23 January 1928 – 12 January 2018) was a French actor, comedian, novelist, playwright and songwriter. She was most successful in the 1970s, authored about 30 plays and more than 25 books as well as writing songs for various arti ...

and composed by David Gategno, who also produced the track. Dorin is a writer, born in France. Her best-selling novels include ''Virginie et Paul, la seconde dans Rome'' (1980), ''Les lits à une place, les jupes culotte'' (1984), and ''Les corbeaux et les renardes'' (1988). Other works include the plays ''La facture'' (1968), ''Un sale egoiste, l'intoxe'' (1980), and a musical comedy, ''La valise en carton'', as well as many humorous texts. Gategno already worked with

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer of Acadian origin who has spent most of her career in France. She was coach in the second and third season of The Voice Belgique (''The Voice of Belgium''). Career Natasha St-Pier r ...

Chimène Badi Chimène Badi (; born 30 October 1982 in Melun, Seine-et-Marne), also known by her mononym Chimène, is a French singer of Algerian descent. Early life Badi was born in Melun in the Paris suburbs to a family of Algerian origin. She spent her enti ...

Faudel Faudel Belloua ( ar, فُضيل بيلوى; born June 6, 1978) is a French raï singer and actor of Algerian descent. He released studio albums, notably '' Baïda'', '' Samra'', ''Un Autre Soleil'' and ''Mundial Corrida'' and the live album '' ...

, and

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

. The title comes from the famous last verse of the poem « Ultima verba » in

Les Châtiments ''Les Châtiments'' ("The Castigations" or "The Punishments") is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, first published in 1853, that fiercely attack Napoléon III's Second Empire.Kathleen Kuiper, ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' editors (2011)Les Ch� ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

« Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-là ! ». The music video was directed by Thierry Vargnes in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 31 January 2007, and premiered on the Canadian television network

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

on 1 April 2007. "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" debuted at number 1 on the French Singles Chart, becoming Dion's fifth number 1 in that country. It spent 33 weeks on the chart, becoming one of her longest-running singles. Dion's last song which stayed that long on the chart was "

Pour que tu m'aimes encore "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (; ) is a French-language song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, recorded for her French studio album, '' D'eux'' (1995). It was released as the lead single on 13 March 1995 in Francophone countries and in September 199 ...

" with 34 weeks. In other countries, "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" peaked at number 2 in Quebec, number 4 in Belgium Wallonia and number 34 in Switzerland. Dion performed it live during the French concerts of her 2008-09

Taking Chances World Tour The Taking Chances World Tour is the ninth concert tour by Canadian singer Celine Dion, in support of her thirteenth French-language and twenty-second studio album '' D'elles'' (2007). tenth English-language and twenty-third studio album ''Takin ...

, and during her historic performance in front of 250,000 spectators to celebrate Quebec's 400th anniversary, which was included on ''

Céline sur les Plaines ''Céline sur les Plaines'' is the ninth home video by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on DVD in Canada by Productions J on 11 November 2008. Entitled ''Live à Quebec'', it was also issued in France, Belgium and Switzerland by TF1 Video on ...

'' DVD in 2008. A live version was included in the CD/DVD '' Tournée Mondiale Taking Chances: Le Spectacle.'' "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" was nominated for the Chérie FM Star in category French Song of the Year.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

highlighted this song.D'elles Celine Dion AllMusic
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Track listing and formats

*European CD single #"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" – 3:32 #" Je ne vous oublie pas" (500 Choristes Version) – 3:35 #"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (Instrumental Version) – 3:32

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-la) Celine Dion songs 2007 singles French-language songs SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Françoise Dorin 2007 songs Epic Records singles Columbia Records singles